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2019-05-21T09:19:04.663Z

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<p>Those who have joined a family member in the UK through refugee family reunion
are entitled to the same support as any other person. As with anyone else, they will
be assessed to ascertain whether they have complex needs and whether they require
additional support to access DWP services.</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had
with the Home Secretary on collaboration between the Home Office and her Department
to ensure that refugees are able to access the employment support and social security
benefits that they are entitled to.

<p>The Department for Work and Pensions is working in partnership with the Home Office
to improve processes for refugees claiming benefits. In order to achieve this aim
we have set up the Post Grant Appointment Scheme (PGAS).</p><p> </p><p>The scheme
involves contacting persons at the point when they are granted refugee status to see
if they wish to apply for benefits and require assistance to do so. If they say they
do, an appointment at a local DWP office is arranged for them.</p>

<p>The Armed Forces Covenant has been in place since May 2011 and sets out the relationship
between the nation, the Government and the Armed Forces. The covenant is a written
and publicised voluntary pledge from businesses and other organisations who wish to
demonstrate their support for the armed forces community.</p><p> </p><p>The covenant
can be signed by a business or other organisation of any size, and from any industry
whether they are an employer of a member of the armed forces community or simply wish
to acknowledge publically their support for the armed forces.</p><p> </p><p>The Department
for Work and Pensions (DWP) National Employer and Partnership Team (NEPT) actively
promote the Armed Forces Covenant to those employers and partner organisations they
work with. This has been adopted into routine business to ensure that those new to
DWP’s employer portfolio are aware of the opportunity and benefits of support to the
Armed Forces community.</p><p> </p><p>Every Jobcentre Plus District has an Armed Forced
Champion (AFC) who is key to delivering our commitments under the covenant. The AFC
will ensure that any concerns and issues raised which affect Service Personnel and
their families are integrated within the wider work of Jobcentre Plus. AFCs ensure
Work Coaches and other DWP staff can effectively support serving personnel, service
leavers, veterans and their families.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the local activity
in Jobcentres to support veterans our National Employer and Partnership Team (NEPT)
also work closely with the Ministry of Defence to align engagement activity in support
of the veteran’s strategy. In particular NEPT work closely with the MOD Careers Transition
Partnership (CTP) and the Defence Relationship Management (DRM) team to encourage
large employers, trade body associations and partner organisations to provide practical
support to the Armed Forces Covenant, particularly the employment of veterans.</p>

<p>The Department for Work and Pensions has not made an assessment of the levels of
foodbank use in Scotland.</p><p>The welfare system provides a strong safety net for
those who need it, spending over £95 billion a year on welfare benefits for people
of working age. This includes a well-established system of hardship payments, benefit
advances and budgeting loans as an additional safeguard for those who need them.</p><p>
</p><p>Jobcentre mangers have discretion to work with food banks in their local area;
and we are exploring how to build on current good practice to make it as easy as possible
for food banks to identify and refer back to the local Jobcentre any customers who
may not be receiving the full formal support to which they are entitled</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment
of the effectiveness of replacing the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme with a
loans-based system from April 2018.

<p>Support for Mortgage Interest is designed to provide protection against the threat
of repossession. The new loans system provides exactly the same level of support and
provides exactly the same level of protection from repossession as the previous system.
We continue to work closely with the lending industry to ensure the scheme delivers
its intended aim. The conversion of SMI from a benefit to a loan is estimated to save
around £140m in welfare spending.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is using evidence from
a number of sources to assess the impact of the conversion to a loan on an on-going
basis, including management information on claimant take up and feedback from stakeholder
groups, including via our regular liaison with UK Finance, to assess whether there
are unintended consequences for particular groups.</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Deduction from Earnings
Orders have been set up at the point of application since changes were made to the
collection and enforcement powers of the Child Maintenance Service in (a) the UK (b)
Scotland and (c) Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency in the last 12 months.

<p>Information on whether a Deduction from Earnings Order was set up at the point
of application is not readily available and to provide it will incur disproportionate
cost.</p><p>You might be interested in Table 11: Enforcement Actions which highlights
Enforcement Actions used by the Child Maintenance Service, including the number of
ongoing Deduction from Earnings Orders or Requests.</p><p>These statistics are published
online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme</a></p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many liability orders have
been obtained by the Child Maintenance Service to utilise their enforcement powers
on the Collect and Pay scheme since they were introduced in (a) the UK (b) Scotland
and (c) Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency.

<p>The Department does not hold information relating to liability orders obtained
by the Child Maintenance Service in Northern Ireland and cannot therefore answer your
question accurately for the UK.</p><p>Information on the number of liability orders
obtained by the Child Maintenance Service in Scotland and the Linlithgow and East
Falkirk constituency is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate
cost.</p><p>You may be interested in our routinely published data on the Enforcement
Actions taken by the Child Maintenance Service in Great Britain. This includes the
number of Liability Orders (Table 11 Enforcement Actions). These statistics are published
online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme</a></p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many formal complaints have
been made to the Child Maintenance Service in respect of collecting arrears in (a)
the UK (b) Scotland and (c) Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency; and if she will
make a statement.

<p>The Department does not hold information relating to complaints made to the Child
Maintenance service in Northern Ireland and cannot therefore provide information for
the UK. Information on the number of complaints made to the Child Maintenance Service
in Scotland and the Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency that relate to the collection
of arrears is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate
cost.</p><p> </p><p>You might be interested in Table 17: Complaints which highlights
the number of complaints received by the Child Maintenance Service (in Great Britain)
each quarter.</p><p>These statistics are published online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme</a></p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether section 69A of the Child
Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 defines cash as an asset which
can be factored into a paying parent's assessment.

<p>Section 69A of the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 specifies
money, whether deposited or in cash, should be treated as an asset for the purposes
of calculating notional income. The maintenance liability will then be adjusted where
a notional annual income of £2,500 or more has been identified.</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Maintenance
Service's Financial Investigations Unit has the power in cases where the paying parent's
assets and/ or income are outside the UK to investigate foreign (a) tax returns and
(b) bank accounts.

<p>The Child Maintenance Service Financial Investigations Unit in either scenario
(a) or (b) has no powers where paying parents are outside of the UK. In terms of tax
returns we do ask Paying Parents that we believe are overseas for their tax status
and details of tax payments. The Department has no powers to compel if a response
is not received. However, rigorous checks are undertaken to confirm that the Paying
Parent is not resident in the UK.</p>